Man United announce Old Trafford regeneration plans

Jim Ratcliffe has backed plans to build a new stadium.

Discussions over the future of the ground have taken priority and Jim Ratcliffe has been an advocate for the plans, which will now go ahead.

A team featuring the likes of Lord Sebastian Coe, Andy Burnham and Gary Neville known as the ‘Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force’ assessed the best option for the club and came to the conclusion that building a new stadium would be the best option.

United have confirmed that they won’t move away from the current Old Trafford site but have plans to rebuild a stadium on the current site or the adjacent land.

Speaking on the update, minority owner Jim Ratcliffe said it was important for a club of United’s stature to have a stadium competing with the biggest sides in the world.

He told the club’s website: “This can be a major regeneration project for an area of Greater Manchester which has played such a key role in British industrial history, but which today requires new investment to thrive again.

“The north-west of England has a greater concentration of major football clubs than anywhere else in the world, yet we don’t have a stadium on the scale of Wembley, the Nou Camp or the Bernabéu. We will not be able to change that on our own, which is why this task force is so important to help us seize this once-in-a-century opportunity.”

Meanwhile, ex-United defender Gary Neville added: “I’m incredibly fortunate to have had the privilege of playing hundreds of games at Old Trafford, and no one can take away those amazing memories. But Old Trafford has evolved throughout its history and it’s clear we are at a point where it has to change again to ensure that Manchester United has a world-class stadium befitting the world’s greatest club.

“While I want the best for Manchester United, I also want the same for the surrounding community. Old Trafford should be a stadium that the whole of Greater Manchester can take pride in, and be a catalyst for sustainable, cohesive growth in an area of the city that has been neglected for too long.”

No official date on when the project will begin has been announced.